Elves: Angler's Rainy Day Team

Kanaz City, nearby mines...

After leaving the Hoenn League headquarters, Yu Hai arrived in Rustboro City and found that Daigo was not at the company, but had gone to a nearby mine to dig for stones.

He was stunned for a while when he heard the news. He thought that Daigo quit his job as champion to go home and inherit the family business. He didn't expect him to go out to dig for stones. Rich people really have unique hobbies!

Having learned of Steven's whereabouts, he came to the mine to look for him. Not knowing exactly where Steven was, he could only release Slowking and Lucario to try and sense Steven's presence.

"Ya-dong," Slowking withdrew its psychic senses and instantly opened its eyes. It sensed a strong psychic energy fluctuation in the distance, which should be the trainer Yu Hai was looking for.

"Lucario," Lucario sensed it too, opening its eyes at the same time as Slowking. There was a very strong aura in the distance. Could this be the kind of expert the trainer was looking for? I wonder who will be the one to fight this time.

Recalling Lucario, Yu Hai placed his hand on Slowking's shoulder and called out, "Slowking, use Teleport to get there..."

"Ya-dong!" Slowking sensed the powerful superpower fluctuations over there again and instantly teleported there.

As soon as Yu Hai and Slowking appeared, they saw Daigo sitting on a rock drinking water, with a pickaxe next to him, still covered in dirt, obviously having just finished digging rocks. A strange Metagross was also with him, waiting for them to arrive.

It seemed their Metagross had sensed them all along. Both were Champion-level Pokémon; Slowking could sense Metagross, and Metagross could sense them too. So, he cut to the chase, "Steven, I heard you retired..."

"You do recognize me. Thank you for your Crystal Onix," Daigo smiled as he saw Yu Hai arrive, put down his water bottle, and explained, "I withdrew voluntarily. Being the champion was hindering my rock-digging..."

“You’re not bad either, thanks to the department store,” Yu Hai smiled back, everything was understood without words. Although they had only met once, they had been paying attention to each other for a long time.

"It's all a small matter," Daigo said. He had only seen Diaoyu Island's investment promotion efforts by chance, so he had the branch office open a department store there. Whether it made money or not didn't matter; it was just a way to repay the Crystal Onix that the other party had given him.

However, to his surprise, the department store there was actually profitable, which meant that the other party was a decent island owner.

"Interested in a match? I just came from over there and I'm really bored." Yu Hai didn't need to explain too much; Daigo should know why. The championship path is getting worse and worse each year.

"I heard that you won the championships of two regions." As the former Hoenn champion, how could Daigo not have heard about this? Even if he didn't want to know, someone would have reported it to him.

The subordinate who reported the news said that a Champion Trainer had emerged from the Orange Islands, who had already cleared the Champion Path in two regions and crushed the Elite Four and Champions of both regions. He was likely to come looking for Steven.

"The news spread that fast?" Yu Hai smiled awkwardly. He guessed that it was Kikuko from the alliance who was creating hype again. He didn't care, as it was good for him to build his reputation.

The world of elves is about to enter the internet age. At that time, everyone will have a Rotom phone, and the speed of information acquisition will be even faster than it is now.

“You’re quite the celebrity,” Daigo stood up and smiled, sighing softly. The boy he first met a few years ago had grown to a point where he had to take him seriously. He was truly impressive.

"Is that so? Compared to you champions, I'm still a bit lacking." Seeing Daigo stand up, Yu Hai also took out a Politoed Poké Ball. To deal with Daigo's ace Metagross, he would naturally use his ace Politoed.

No matter how many pseudo-legendary or even legendary Pokémon he has, he will only have one trump card: Poliwrath.

"Metamorphose, are you ready?" Steven took out a Mega Stone, smiled, and patted Metamorphose's head. He also really wanted to fight a strong opponent!

Once they reach their level, it becomes very difficult to find opponents of the same caliber, and it's hard to have a truly satisfying battle.

"Metamorphosis, Metagross," Metagross floated in front of Daigo, looking at Yukai with unwavering eyes. It would do everything in its power to defeat any enemy.

"Come out, Politoed," Yu Hai threw out Politoed and stood facing Metagross and Steven. Neither of them made any further moves, only a wisp of wind blew between them, bringing a sense of menace.

"Metamorphosis, Mega Evolution..."

"Pontoflurk, Bond Phenomenon!" Yu Hai shouted as he saw Metagross and Steven glowing because of the Mega Stone.

"It appeared? A strange evolution method? Bond Evolution?" Daigo looked at Poliwrath, which was enveloped in a waterspout, and listened to Yukai's shout. This was a Mega Evolution unique to the other party, an evolution method that would only appear if the bond was deep enough. He learned about it from Cynthia.

"Metamorphose," Metagross said, looking at Poliwrath opposite it after its Mega Evolution. It had also changed into a completely new form, taller and stronger than before.

"Fast Frog, Belly Drum, Ice Punch, Full Power Burst..."

"Yoru!" Politoed took a deep breath, its whole body shone with a blazing white light, its chest swelled up and then disappeared, its belly bulging stopped instantly, and its whole body was covered in ice armor. It then charged towards Metagross at full speed.

“Metamorphose, Thunder Punch…” Daigo was still a little surprised, not understanding why Yukai would use Ice Punch, which had no effect on Metagross.

"Metamorphose!" Metagross raised its massive fists, crackling with lightning, and charged rapidly toward Poliwrath.

boom--

The moment the two Pokémon collided, Yu Hai was carried away by Slowking using Instant Transmission, and Steven was also taken away with him.

The moment the mushroom cloud rose, Metagross was instantly sent flying backward, crashing into the mountainside of the mine. The mountainside exploded instantly, and Metagross continued to retreat, finally crashing into the ground and creating a crater several kilometers wide before coming to a stop.

The Politoed was also sent flying back. Its protective shield couldn't withstand the explosive damage, and its ice armor shattered inch by inch. Finally, it was covered in water and crashed heavily to the ground before coming to a stop.

"What is this? Such terrifying power," Daigo was taken to the sky by Slowking and could not feel how powerful the shockwave on the ground was. He looked at the distant forest and saw the trees snapped in half as they were hit. The shockwave only subsided when he went deep into the forest.

Since Poliwrath entered the Champion level, Yu Hai has never let Poliwrath unleash its full power. He has never seen what the power of a Champion-level Poliwrath's full-power attack looks like, and he came to find Daigo today with the idea of ​​testing it out.

Back when it was only at the near-champion level, Poliwrath destroyed one of the arms of a champion-level Gengar. Now that it's at the champion level, with its attack power doubled by the Huge Power ability, Poliwrath's full-power burst could easily destroy a mountain.

"The fast-paced frog swimming style is almost at its limit..."

"Only one hit?" Daigo was stunned when he heard Yukai's words. He thought this championship battle would be a back-and-forth affair, but he didn't expect Yukai to be so unsportsmanlike and start with a powerful attack right away, catching him completely off guard.

"Not really. If Metagross can still stand up, it can still throw another punch," Yu Hai smiled, gently patted Slowking to let it carry them over, and explained to Daigo, "Poliwrath's Ice Blast doesn't rely on type damage to defeat its opponent..."

"Instead, it uses the high temperature and kinetic energy generated by the explosion to kill the opponent. If it has elemental damage, the damage will be even higher. Even without elemental damage, the impact and recoil from the explosion alone are enough to kill almost any Pokémon..."

"I see," Daigo finally understood why Metagross used Ice Punch, since Metagross is resistant to Ice-type attacks.

However, the high temperature and shockwave generated at the center of the explosion are exactly what Metagross's steel attribute, and it's really hard to say whether Metagross can stand up without any protection.

"Yoru," the fast-moving frog, lying on the ground, immediately got up when it saw Yu Hai arrive, indicating that it could still fight.

"Are you alright?" Yu Hai circled around Politoed. Politoed had already exited its Bond Phenomenon state. That attack just now was truly all-out effort, otherwise it wouldn't have exited Bond Phenomenon.

"Yo-hoo," the fast-swimming frog nodded gently. It didn't feel any pain in its body, but it needed to keep panting. It was really tired, as it hadn't exerted its full strength in a long time.

"Wow, that was amazing. How long did you practice that attack?" Daigo looked at Poliwrath, who was still able to stand up. After being weakened by Ice Armor and Protect, and with Water Ball reducing the impact damage, Poliwrath was finally able to stand up and catch its breath. It was truly remarkable.

No wonder some analysts online say that this Poliwrath is freakish. Poliwrath can combine many explosive moves into one strike, and almost no Pokémon of the same level can withstand one punch from it.

"I've been practicing since I caught Poliwrath, and it's been five or six years now," Yu Hai smiled. He felt that Waterfall Burst was already stronger than Z-Move, and the power it could unleash was well over two hundred.

"Awesome, I'm going to see Metagross," Daigo nodded slightly, releasing his Claydol to teleport him there instantly.

When he arrived at the spot where Metagross had fallen, he found Metagross lying unconscious in the crater, having long since exited its Mega Evolution state. The crater looked as if it had been struck by a meteorite, with a radius of several miles, demonstrating the power of the attack.

"I was careless," Daigo said, taking out a Poké Ball to recall Metagross. If he had blocked it with all his might, there might have been a chance to stop it. If he had fought it head-on, it would have been half-dead even if it didn't die. The best-case scenario would have been like Metagross, lying unconscious in the crater.

That explosive move was something his opponent had been using since his debut. He remembered watching Yu Hai's competition videos and discovering that even before his opponent broke through to the Elite Four level with his fast breaststroke, he already knew that explosive move.

I didn't expect that even after breaking through to the champion level, the opponent's fast-paced frog was still practicing that move and could still unleash such power. He is really an interesting trainer, training in the same boring way for ten years, just for that one move.

"Is Metagross alright?" After recalling Poliwrath, Yu Hai also had Slowking bring him over. He really didn't expect that a move that was invincible at the same level would still be useful at the Champion level.

Perhaps it was partly due to Daigo's carelessness, but the fact that this move could decide the outcome in one strike was still beyond his expectations. As long as the opponent shows the slightest weakness, the Frog Spin move is still effective.

"It's alright, Metagross is a Metal Pokémon, it can recover by eating metal," Steven smiled at Yu Hai as he climbed out of the crater. He then became curious about Poliwrath and asked Yu Hai, "Could you tell me Poliwrath's move...?"

"Of course, every Pokémon can unleash such a burst of power. It's just that their physical characteristics and abilities make the power they unleash vary in strength," Yu Hai explained with a smile. This move is something anyone can learn; it's all about catching people off guard.

The key points are how to hit the target, how to deal with the reflected damage, and how to persevere...

Persistence alone is not enough; if you can't hit the target, it's all for nothing. If the opponent manages to defend and dodge, no matter how high your explosive power is, it's useless.

As both are Champion-level Pokémon, even if Metagross can't block the punch, it can reduce the damage significantly. In addition, Metagross also has Psychic Shield and Reflect, which is enough to reduce the power of this attack by 80%.

The first step is to reduce the reflection by half, then maintain the remaining half. The final psychic shield will be sufficient to protect you.

After their battle, the two chatted casually as they left the mine and returned to Devon Corporation. They then sent out other Pokémon for a friendly three-on-three match, which ended in a draw.